Why do I feel so fuzzy?

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Could this be peri? I’m pretty confident I’ve been in peri for the last couple of years.

I used to have ocular migraines which were hormonal but not since the peri started.

Anyway, had a migraine aura Wednesday lunchtime followed by a nasty migraine headache. This was cycle day 4 and the last day of my period. Since then I just don’t feel right at all. I have a pressure in my head and dizziness, keep falling asleep and feel a little drunk/have vertigo. My mood has been very depressive since then too. Random bursting into tears for no reason. An example being Friday when my partner and I had a lovely day out and I felt so sad and just cried.

Today my mood is better but the dizziness and fuzzy head is still there. I haven’t needed to nap but I think I’ve started with hot flushes 😖

I am almost 41 and was laughed out the surgery when I went aged 39 suffering with peri an d was told it’s anxiety and prescribed antidepressants (which I took for a but but came off a year ago).

I don’t want to bother the doctor unnecessarily but it’s been going on days so will call the doctor tomorrow if things haven’t improved.

Aside from the dizziness I have anxiety, poor sleep, weight gain, brain fog and a mild depression with no desire to anything.

Thanks if you read this far.

Go and see a doctor. If they "laugh at you":
A) request blood tests, ideally full blood count and menopause markers
B) start looking for another doctor.

I saw two different doctors back then and both said I was too young for peri and that it was ‘just’ anxiety. The medication did help for a while but only the anxiety, so I stopped it as the side effect were bad.

I am hoping now I am early 40s they will be more accommodating! If not, my partner will pay for me to go private if I wish.

What are menopause markers?

I’ve an appointment with my GP this week to discuss possible peri menopause. Sorry to jump on someone else’s post but it’d be helpful to know what to ask for specifically

My guess actually is that it’s the knock on effect of your migraine. Dh gets migraines and he can absolutely feel off for days after and have recurring smaller ones. It was only 5 days ago. My guess would be it’s more migraine related than anything.

My thoughts are migraine too. I used to have ocular ones that affected my visions but not often a headache. This came with a nasty headache that lasted into the second day. I hope this isn’t part of peri and just a random one off 😖

Stop trying to self-diagnose.

Go back to your GP with the symptoms and ask for a full blood test.

Get your eyes tested.

Get your hearing tested.

It might be peri. It might be low iron. It might be stress. It might be a bug you're recovering from. It might be thyroid. It might be diabetes. It might be any number of things.

There are no hormone markers. Hormone levels vary wildly in Peri, even from the morning to the afternoon which is why they don’t bother doing blood tests for menopause now. Blood tests are only definitive to prove a woman is post-menopausal. NICE guidelines say that doctors should go by women’s symptoms instead.

The best thing is to print off a list of menopause symptoms and check off all the ones that apply to you and show the doctor. Good luck! If the doctor fobs you off, the best thing is to make another appointment with a different doctor. Some doctors are quite resistant and there’s no point flogging a dead horse. Overall, GPs are moving in the right direction and they’re much better than they were.